FILE - In this Aug. 18, 1956 black-and-white file photo, former President Harry Truman shakes hands with Sen. Estes Kefauver, D-Tenn., and stands arm in arm with Adlai Stevenson at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Long gone are the passionate debates. Long gone is the suspense about who will emerge as the party's presidential nominee. Political conventions now are carefully scripted pep rallies aimed at a national TV audience. Not since the 1970s, in fact, has the nation had a major-party national convention begin with the nominee in doubt. Americans already know how the story will end at this year's Republican and Democratic national gatherings. So have modern-day conventions become irrelevant? (AP Photo, File)